108 The American Salmon-fisherman. 



not on its very threshold. The barb should come into 

 use but seldom, and then only to withstand some mo- 

 mentary and unusual convulsion of the fish. Otherwise 

 every struggle is a direct strain upon the barb, necessarily 

 a weak spot, since the wire is there partially divided. 



Lastly, the wire should be heavy enough so that the 

 hook will not open much, if any, when the point is en- 

 gaged in a block of wood and the shank is pulled upon. 

 For if the hook springs open under these circumstances, 

 of course the form of the bend is at once changed, and 

 a hook which would meet approval under the rule first 

 given might so vary in use as to become exceedingly de- 

 fective. 



The O'Shaughnessy, the Limerick, and the Sproat are 

 the forms of hooks most used in salmon-flies in this coun- 

 try. Assuming these rules to be valid, as I believe them 

 to be, if we apply them to these hooks we shall obtain 

 the following results : 



The tendency of the O'Shaughnessy to penetrate is very 

 fair, though not as good as the Sproat. The shape of 

 the point is also usually good; the wire is not cut too 

 much in forming the barb; it has fair depth on the barb- 

 side, though inferior to the Limerick in this respect; and 

 the wire is heavy enough. 



The Limerick has not the certainty of either the Sproat 

 or the O'Shaughnessy. The barb is bad, since not only 

 is it "hollow-pointed," but the wire is usually cut half 

 through in its formation. To offset this, it has the great- 

 est depth of any on the barb-side, so that the fish plays 

 at the greatest distance from the point of escape, while 

 the wire is heavy enough to prevent the hook from 

 changing shape when the point becomes engaged. 



